


Not Everything Is About You

by jhunieilarde



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:14:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jhunieilarde/pseuds/jhunieilarde
Summary: When Diana Fowley returned to Mulder's life, it drove a wedge on his relationship with Scully. His decision to side with Diana caused for Scully to walk away from him. With Daniel Waterston coming back to her life, can Mulder and Scully still find their way back to each other or is it time for them to go their separate ways?(Diana Fowley story line combined with All Things)(just for fun)
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 12
Kudos: 62





	1. Start Over

**Author's Note:**

> i suddenly thought about mixing Diana Fowley's storyline with All Things. I think it's only right to bring back someone from Scully's past to match Mulder's past, like giving him a taste of his own medicine since i am pissed at him ignoring Scully when Diana showed up, so here it is. Enjoy!

“Excuse me?” she blurted out.

Her ears could not believed what they’re hearing from Mulder’s mouth. She had presented him all the evidence of Diana’s lies and he has not believed a single reason she said. He’s keeping a blind eye when it comes Diana Fowley and it’s already pissing her off.

“Diana has been there for the X Files from the beginning, Scully. She has no reason to betray it, to betray me. Why can’t you understand that?” he asked.

“Mulder, you had not even look at one of the evidences I gave to you and you already made your conclusion. Why can’t you just see what I am trying to tell you?” she argued.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes at the folder on the table. She knows that look. That is the look which means he made up his mind and no matter how hard she tries to explain, he will never change it.

“You are desperately trying so hard to find any reason to taint Diana’s credibility because you feel threaten by her when all she wants is to help us solve this case. I am sick of you trying to question and second guess everything. For once, Scully, why can’t you have an open mind like…” he trailed off but she catches his drift.

“…like Agent Fowley”, she finished for him.

Mulder went silent. He has said too much. The words came out of his mouth without him thinking first. The look on her face felt like a slap on his face. Her eyes are glassy from the tears she’s holding back. The warmth on them was replaced quickly by an artic cold gaze. Suddenly, he felt a pang of guilt in his guts.

“Scully…” he tried but she did not let him finish this time.

“I just thought after all these years you learned how to trust my judgment. I am a doctor and a scientist. I am not an irrational person, Mulder, and despite my own personal feelings, I went looking for facts, hard evidence so I would not make a fool out of myself because I knew you will find it hard to believe me. I guess I just did not expect you shutting me down without bothering to listen what I just told you. I’m sorry to cause you trouble, Agent Mulder. It won’t happen again. You know what you are doing”, she said with a cold tone that sent shivers down his spine.

“Scully, can we please talk about this first?” he asked but she already picked up her bag.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Agent Mulder. My shift is up. Send my regards to Agent Fowley”, she answered and left the room.

Scully stormed out of the room and let her heels clicked along the hospital hallway. He did not believe her even with all the data she found about Diana Fowley when she had been following him blind no matter how ridiculous his hunches were because she trusts him. She has faith in him. Apparently, when it comes to Diana Fowley, Mulder got none for her. Her chest felt so heavy and she is desperate to get away from the hospital as soon as possible when she suddenly bumped into someone she has not noticed was standing in her way.

“Watch it”, she muttered before looking up to the man in front of her.

“Dana? Well, who would have thought I will see you again in a hospital nonetheless?” a man expressed.

Her jaw almost hit the floor but she recovered remarkably fast.

“Daniel?” she muttered, her tone clouded with disbelief.

Why now? She asked herself. She’s having the worst time possible in her work and personal life and there is her ex-boyfriend who she has not seen in ten years, standing right in front of her.

“So, you’re working here?” he asked.

“Georgetown? No. I don’t work here”, she answered.

Something about his presence just takes her back before she entered the academy. She cannot explain it.

“You still work for the FBI”, his tone is filled with slight resentment and disappointment.

“Daniel…” she does not want to hear that conversation again and he gets it because he raised his hands in surrender.

“Alright. Alright, I will not bring it up. Have a drink with me”, he invited.

She is not in the mood for a drink. She wants to go home and run a cold bath to clear her head and crash on her bed. Her eyes roamed around trying to find an excuse.

“Why are you here in the hospital, Daniel?” she asked instead.

The answer could be obvious. He is a doctor. He might have a patient in the hospital for all she knows.

“Oh, this time I came here as a patient…cardiac arrest”, he answered.

It is not unnatural. He is old enough to develop that kind of health problem and that’s not what surprised her.

“You just got discharged after having a cardiac arrest and you’re asking me for a drink”, she said with a raised eyebrow.

Daniel smirked.

“You drink the strong ones and I will have a juice or something. Come on, Dana. You look like you can use a scotch”, he insisted.

That thought appealed to her brain quite well. The practical response is to decline. She cannot be hangover for tomorrow’s work but then again, what does she has to look forward to when it comes to her work? It’s clear her partner had found his partner and her services are no longer needed. He said it himself. He is sick of her questions and her habit of second guessing everything. She got to live her life from time to time.

“Sure”, she agreed.

\------------------------------------------

Daniel still holds the same charm that made her fall for him hard. It’s true that he is older than the last time she saw him and he got more gray hairs but it only added to his appeal and she finds herself being pulled back again like a moth attracted to the flame. She is going to burn herself again. He sticks to his word and ordered an orange juice for himself and scotch for her.

“So, lay it on me. What’s the problem at work?” he asked.

“What makes you think it’s about work?” she asked him back.

“I know you. You are a workaholic, Dana, and when you work, you give it your all. Only work can frustrate you like this so lay it on me. You will feel better. I promise”, he answered.

She watched him leaned back, readying himself for her ranting.

“My partner and I had a fallout”, she started. “It’s not uncommon because we argue all the time. We have different points of view and we tend to clash but not like this. His former partner is back and he happens to side with her. I get that they had history but to completely disregard my opinion which is backed up by evidence is just making me pissed off”, she added.

Her conversation with Mulder coming back to her brain again and her blood is slowly simmering.

“I am shock that someone has the balls to go up against you at all”, Daniel teased.

“You clearly haven’t been at the bureau. Everyone seems to doubt me first before I even open my mouth”, she said.

That turned his face serious. Dana is one of the brightest minds he knows and for someone to doubt her at all makes him angry. 

“Why do you stick around with the FBI when they don’t value your worth anymore? You said it yourself. Your partner chose to side with someone else and the others doubt you before hearing what you have to say. Why waste your time and energy in a place where you’re obviously unappreciated?” he asked.

It did not occur to Scully. Of course, she felt unappreciated from time to time. There were times when Mulder completely ditched her to follow some lead without bothering to tell her. There had been assignments only given to Mulder by their superiors without letting her know. Mulder had been assigned to go undercover in a case she was involved in without letting her know about it which almost lead to her disrupting the whole operation when she tried to follow Mulder because she’s been kept in the dark. Skinner and Mulder would often commend her for a job well done but it mostly concern about her autopsy, determining the cause of death and the basics but never about her skills when it comes to solving the case. She never looked at it from the way Daniel had put it. He may have been biased but she knows how much he values her intelligence when it comes to science and medicine. He appreciates her.

“I honestly don’t know how to answer that right now”, she answered.

His hand found hers and gently squeezed it to ground her. There was a time when she can enumerate reasons why she chose FBI over practicing medicine. She can be a doctor right now and save lives at the hospital. She can be living a peaceful life. She could have been married by now. Whenever her mother or her brother would ask her why stay at the FBI, she never ran out of reasons to tell them but along the way, she started losing those reasons and her last conversation with Mulder seemed to be the last draw.

“Let’s talk about something else. What brings you here to D.C., Daniel?” she changed the topic.

“Actually, I live here”, he answered with a smile.

Live in D.C.? He lives in Maryland. His family is in Maryland.

“Since when?” she asked again.

“Ten years ago”, he answered but the smile is no longer on his face.

She quickly did the math in her head. Her breath almost stopped when the realization hit her.

“Oh, Daniel…please tell me you did not move here for me”, she muttered.

His hand lifted her chin so she can meet his eyes. All she sees is adoration and love for her. His eyes had always been the same since the last time she saw him, the time when she said goodbye.

“I love you, Dana. I have always been and always will. When you left, I fell apart. Of course, I understand your choice. I felt so guilty for destroying your future. You left medicine to get away and you found FBI. I tried to respect your wish but I could not live without you so I left everything. I divorced my wife and I quit my job at the university and left. When I got here, I did not know how to approach you. I was afraid you will push me away and tell me you never want to see me so I waited and waited. I somehow settled knowing the fact that I live in the same place as you. Ten years had passed and I did not notice that I already waited that long”, he explained.

Ten years…she could not believe it. What has she been doing in ten years? She knows what she has been doing. She has been following Mulder around, wherever he goes, like a puppy. She had been abducted, almost died multiple times, and recovered from cancer. Daniel has been around and she did not even know it. What would she do if she had known? Will it change things? Perhaps, she could have pushed him away and told him she never wanted to see him again because she’s in deep with Mulder and his quest in finding the truth but this time is different. She had come to the surface and breathe for the first time. Maybe, things happen for a reason. Maybe, Daniel is not meant to see her before but now.

“Wow…I can’t believe you dropped everything to come here and not talk to me at all. If I had not been there at the hospital today, I wouldn’t know you’re even here”, she muttered.

Was it fate?

“I know your life is different now”, he said.

She scoffed.

“I don’t know what my life is right now”, she said.

She’s lost. Everything is lost. Her purpose had been lost to her and she doesn’t know what to do with her life at the moment. She is starting to realize all the choices she had missed all in the name of finding of the truth. She had thrown so many chances for herself and that includes having a family of her own. She lost her ability to have a child. It makes her question if it has all been worth it? She used to tell herself yes but after Mulder’s choice to not believe in her, she cannot tell that to herself anymore.

“If you lost what you want to make of it, create a new one. Start again. Haven’t you learned anything at all, Dana?” Daniel asked.

“Of course, I learned a lot from you. Let’s start over again, Daniel”, she answered.


	2. Resignation

Mulder’s head is out of his body. He kept repeating his conversation with Scully over and over again, silently punching himself on the face for being an ass. She was just trying to help. She does not want him to trust the wrong people. She’s following Deep Throat’s advice: trust no one…except each other. Scully trusts him with all of her heart. He did not return the same courtesy. He knows deep in his bones that he trusts her. He told her once that she’s the only one he trusts but how come when that trust was tested, he flipped out just like that?

Diana…that’s the answer. He got torn between her and Scully. He trusts Diana too. They had history. She was there when it all began. They found the X Files together and she shares the same belief as he does. His dynamic with Diana is so different from the one he has with Scully. He and Scully butt heads all the time. Her science versus his science fiction and little green men theories but it always works for them. When Scully threw the idea that Diana has been lying to him and that she does not trust her, his reflex was to defend Diana. He knows her…right? It may have been a long time since he last saw her but he knows her heart. She cares about him despite the fact that she left him and he is certain that she will not hurt him by betraying him.

That reasoning caused him to lash out on Scully for insisting that Diana is a liar. Scully does not know her, not like he does. He wants her to give Diana a chance to prove herself to her but she presented him with her facts and data and science. He felt rushed. He felt ambushed. He lashed out. The moment the words flew out of his mouth, he wished with all his might he can take them back. He saw as the hurt appeared on her face. It was like a slow motion when tears started to form in her eyes before she held them back to prevent them from falling. When she spoke next, it was so cold he felt the chills. She closed off and then she shut him out. That’s her defense mechanism. She does not lash out. She closed off, built a high wall around her so she would not be hurt again. 

“Fox? Have you heard the word I said?” Diana asked.

He blinked a few times at her. It’s been three days since he last saw Scully. He tried to call her but she never answered. He wanted to go to her apartment but he took Scully’s shift in watching over Gibson to give Diana time to rest. 

“Yeah…I heard you. I was just thinking about Gibson. We cannot keep him here forever”, he answered.

It was a lie. He did not hear anything from what she said but she does not need to know that.

“I know. I have been talking with A.D. Skinner about it. There is a safe house FBI owns. It’s located in a remote town and it’s very confidential. Perhaps, we can put Gibson in that place where he will be safe”, she suggested.

“That’s good”, is his only reply.

When he got back to the office, Scully was not there. He half expected to see her browsing through the files or finishing paperwork or report to Skinner but she’s not there. He was about to pick up the phone when the door went open and came in Skinner.

“Care to tell me what’s going on with you and Agent Scully?” he asked him. His face is red with anger.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean, sir”, he muttered.

“She came in this morning and handed me her resignation. She did not request for a transfer. She wanted to quit the bureau altogether. What did you do?” he answered and then asked again.

Scully wanted to resign. That is something that’s hard for his brain to absorb. She is not a quitter. She loves the job. She loves being an agent. She told that to him herself. Why is she quitting? 

“We had a fight. I had been meaning to talk to her but I couldn’t reach her. Where is she?” he answered then asked him back.

Skinner knows that they fight all the time. That’s how they work but it must have been a big fight to push Scully to submit her resignation letter to him. He asked her about it but she only said that it’s for personal reasons and nothing more. 

“I don’t want to pry but I hate to lose a very good agent over a fight, Agent Mulder. She left as soon as she’s done explaining to me how it’s for personal reasons. Fix this, Agent Mulder”, he ordered and left.

He immediately drove to her apartment. He is running number of reasons in his brain to tell Scully why she should not leave the bureau. It’s his fault. He’s been selfish for a long time and he can change. He can try and be less of an ass for her. All he wants is for her to stay. He cannot imagine coming to work without her there. He cannot imagine anything without her period. He knocked on her door, anxious about seeing her after their last talk. He knocked again after a minute of no response. Maybe she’s not home. She could be at her mom’s house. She always goes there whenever there’s a problem or she feels sad and she cannot talk to him. Mulder was about to turn around to try at Maggie’s house when the door opened.

Scully is still in her robe and her hair is disheveled. She looked surprised to see him at her door.

“Mulder, what are you doing here?” she asked.

“Can I come in?” he asked her back.

She hesitated for a moment before letting him inside and closed the door. Her apartment is too quiet for his taste. Something in the air does not feel right.

“Skinner told me or rather confronted me about you resigning from the FBI. Why?” he asked.

“What do you mean why?” she asked him back.

“Why resign? You love being on the X Files. You love being an agent. You said it to me yourself. You preferred being an agent than teaching at Quantico”, he clarified.

She did say that. She loved being an agent and she cannot imagine herself going back to teaching after having a taste of the field work but the satisfaction she’s getting from it is no longer there. When he made it clear that he does not trust her the way she trusts him, the work lost its magic on her.

“It’s a personal decision, Mulder. A lot has already happened to me during my time at the FBI and it cost me too much. I am trying to save myself before it’s too late. I need to start over and get my life back together”, she answered.

He frowned. Of course, the job cost her too much. She lost her sister because of it. She’s been abducted. She lost her ability to conceive a child. She’s been kidnapped so many times. She almost died a lot of times but each time, she comes back stronger. He was the one trying to give her a way out during those times and she was the one who wanted to stay. Then, her voice rang in his ears: Not everything is about you, Mulder. This is my life. 

“Scully…I’m sorry about what I said at the hospital. You know that I trust you and I value your opinion. I was just caught off guard but I know it’s no excuse”, he apologized and it’s long overdue.

Her expression did not change. It is making him even more anxious. He cannot read her at all. Suddenly, he heard something coming from her bedroom.

“Dana?” someone called.

“Here”, she answered.

Mulder looked at her, confused. Scully does not seem to mind if he’s confused or lost. She’s extremely calm. A man older than Mulder walked in the living room, also wearing a robe with his hair disheveled. His arm quickly snuck around her waist.

“Everything okay?” he asked her.

“Yes. This is Agent Fox Mulder. He was my partner at the FBI. Mulder, this is Daniel Waterston”, she introduced them.

Mulder did not fail to catch the word ‘was’. It makes it more official that she resigned at the bureau even though Skinner has not yet signed it. Daniel extended his hand to him and he shook it out of politeness.

“Heard so much about you, Agent Mulder”, Daniel greeted and then turned to Scully. “I’ll go get ready”, he said and put a kiss on her cheek.

When he’s gone, Mulder waited for her to explain but she does not owe him any explanation. 

“Should I guess who he is?” he asked.

Scully did not flinch.

“Daniel is my boyfriend. We used to date when I as in med school. We broke up when I accepted the bureau’s offer”, she answered mechanically.

He smirked.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this but you really do have a type, don’t you Scully?” he remarked quite bitterly.

She felt the venom of his voice but she did not give him the satisfaction that she felt it.

“I guess I do, Mulder. I once considered spending my entire life with him back in Maryland and when I left, Daniel followed me here to D.C. and dropped his life back home for me. It’s time for me to make decision for my life. I already missed a lot and I don’t want to miss anything else anymore”, she said.

A man who dropped everything to follow her to another state, how can he compete with that when he could not drop his trust on Diana to listen to Scully? 

“Do you really have to leave FBI completely? You can ask for reassignment. If you still want to be on the field, you can be assigned to another department”, he suggested.

“My mind is made up, Mulder. I am leaving the bureau. I am done with the conspiracy. I am done with the X Files. I am done with the bureau”, she said.

\----------------------------------------

Gibson has been transferred to a secret FBI safehouse where he will be looked after 24/7. Diana Fowley has been a great help to him at the X Files. Skinner is still holding on Scully’s resignation, hoping that she will change her mind. Of course, he is angry at Mulder for driving her away. Skinner always likes Scully more than Mulder. He believes in her ability as an agent and as a scientist so much. Plus, she saved his life a lot of times. Mulder cannot blame him. He feels her absence greatly. It is true what they say that you’ll never know someone’s worth until you lost them. He is not just realizing the gravity of Scully’s absence in his life to the point that it’s hard to breathe.

“Mulder”, he answered when his phone rings.

“Fox, this is Maggie. Is Dana with you? I cannot reach her. She’s not answering her phone at home either”, she asked.

“No, Mrs. Scully. Dana is not here at the office. Last time I saw her, she’s at her apartment with Daniel”, he answered. There is a significant amount of pause on the other line. “Mrs. Scully? Are you okay?” he asked.

“Daniel? Dr. Daniel Waterston?” she asked.

“Yeah…Scully introduced us. She did not say he’s a doctor as well but it make sense that he is”, he answered.

Another pause and Mulder got nervous.

“Thank you, Fox. I’ll go try and call my daughter again”, she said and hung up.

\----------------------------------

Scully is preparing breakfast at her parents’ cabin when someone knocked on the door. She’s not expecting anyone and Daniel got a key to the front door. She would have reached for her gun if she has not turned it over to Skinner when she handed her resignation letter. When she opened the door, her mother burst in, not giving her a chance to close the door on her.

“Mom? How did you know I was here?” she asked.

“I called Fox when you did not answer any of my calls”, Maggie answered coldly.

“Mulder does not know about this place”, Scully muttered.

“Oh, you’re right. He does not. He did not tell me that you’re here, Dana. He told me who he saw when he saw you last”, Maggie said.

Scully closed her eyes, willing for the conversation about Daniel to go away but it’s not going to. She’s going to be at the receiving end of her mother’s wrath.

“Mom…”

“No, Dana! You and I are going to pack up your things and we are going to my house and we’re going to talk”, Maggie ordered.


	3. Daniel

It all happened so fast. Maggie stormed in the bedroom, grabbed all her daughter’s clothes and shoved them in her suitcase and took it to her car. Scully stood there, helpless, while watching her mother do all the work. She has not seen her mother this furious before. She had been angry with her back then when she found out about her relationship with Daniel but not to this extent. To be honest, Scully was afraid her mother will have a heart attack so she obeyed when she told her to get in the car. She can call Daniel later to tell him she went with her mother.

The whole drive back to her mother’s house was agonizingly quiet. She can feel the anger from Maggie’s body radiating off of her. Melissa was the first person to know about Daniel and it was not intentional. Scully knew she could not tell her family about him because he was a married man. It was not like she fell for married men. Daniel was charming, intelligent, powerful…a remarkable man. Before she even knew it, she’s already falling for him fast. It was late and Daniel just took her to a fine restaurant when she heard someone called her name. It was Melissa.

“Dana? What are you doing here?” her sister asked while her eyes lingered on Daniel.

“Dinner”, she simply answered.

Daniel cleared his throat, sensing her discomfort, and extended his hand to her sister.

“Dr. Daniel Waterston. I am Dana’s professor”, he introduced himself.

Melissa, being polite, took his offered hand and shook it.

“Melissa Scully, Dana’s sister”, she replied but Scully noticed the cold accent to her words. “Well, it is a pleasure meeting you, Dr. Waterston. I should go. I’ll see you at the house on the weekend, Dana”, she said and then left.

When Saturday came, Melissa brought her to her room and locked the door. She expressed how much she did not like Daniel. She said there’s something about his aura that’s not good for her. Of course, Scully did not buy any of it. She’s a woman of medicine. She loves her sister very much but they approach life differently. Melissa was free-spirited. Scully is basing everything on facts. During that conversation, neither of them expected that Maggie was listening on the other room. Apparently, they had been talking loud and did not notice their mother was also there and she heard everything. It took Maggie two weeks before she spoke to her daughter again. When Scully graduated, her head got clearer about her relationship with Daniel and she made the decision to accept FBI’s offer instead of practicing medicine.

“Mom, would you let me explain first?” she asked when they got in her mother’s house.

“I would like to hear it, Dana”, Maggie answered.

“He’s not married anymore, Mom. He loves me. He left everything for me. He followed me here to Washington”, she sighed, “It sounded self-serving and superficial but when did that happen to me? When does someone do that for me?” she asked. “I’ve been working for years now, putting my life on the line. I know what I signed up for and there is a big risk of me dying on the field but it felt like I signed away more than just my safety. It felt like I signed away my life, all of it. I used to want what you have, Mom. I dreamt of it, the marriage, kids, picket fence…I can’t have kids anymore but I think I am still capable of getting the other two”, she added.

“You don’t love him, Dana”, Maggie muttered.

“What? How can you say that?” she asked.

“He’s a very intelligent man. I am certain of that. You are attracted to that trait. You are attracted to power, authority, but that is not love, Dana. It just feeds your desire but not your heart. You might get the marriage, the picket fence, but they won’t make you happy”.

Scully swallowed hard. She has never admitted to loving Daniel. She does not know what she feels about him. She knows there is something pulling her to him or the likes of him and her mother might be right. It might be just desire. 

“Why do you think your father agreed to you entering the FBI?” Maggie asked but Scully does not know the answer to that. Her father was always against that decision of hers. “…because I convinced him”, Maggie answered for her.

As far as Scully can remember, her mother was also against that when she told them she wanted to go at Quantico.

“I knew you’re already in deep with Daniel and even though you did not talk to me about it, it was already getting messier. You needed a way out and you thought FBI would be a great one. I talked to your father about letting you follow your own mind. It was a long talk until I eventually convinced him to allow you to go to the academy. At first, I regretted that when you were abducted. I thought to myself that it was my fault. Then, you came back and you returned to work, stronger than ever. There’s that fire in your eyes when your Agent Dana Scully. You found Fox and formed something between the two of you that no one will be able to understand. I’ve never seen you so fulfilled, so satisfied. You don’t have the marriage, the kids, or the picket fence, but you have the power, the ability to save and protect lives, to use yourself for others. Those make you happy, Dana”, Maggie explained.

Scully blinked the tears away. Her mother just knows how to trigger her tear ducts with her words.

“Mom, I don’t think Mulder and I can be partners again. He does not trust me and I am tired of trying to prove myself to him again and again. There is already a lot of things going on at work and if my own partner doubts my judgment or at least does not want to hear me out, I can’t stay. I have had enough of people doubting me or discounting my worth”, she said.

“…and Daniel does not doubt you or discount your worth?” Maggie asked.

“No. He respects and acknowledges my intellect and he value my opinion”, Scully answered.

\-----------------------------------

Few days passed after her talk with her mother, Daniel has been working in his laptop when she got back from the store. Skinner is still holding her request to resign so she spends all her time at her apartment. 

“What are you working on?” she asked Daniel.

“Come here, Dana”, he said and she obliged. “Our Lady of Sorrows, it’s in Richmond, Virginia. You’ll love this. It’s a Catholic-run medical facility who treats basic illness to specialized cases”, he said excitedly.

Of course, it sounded appealing to her ears but that’s not what caught her attention.

“You’re looking up hospitals for me?” she asked.

“Yes. I know how much you hate being idle. We can drive there to see the building, ask about their procedures, and then if it looks good to you, we can submit your papers. Oh, and don’t worry about the house. I’m on it”, he answered.

That made Scully got on her feet and stepped back.

“Whoa! Daniel…just hold on. I know I said about starting over but I did not mean a new job out of state and a new house”, she exclaimed.

He frowned, not understanding her hesitation.

“Dana, this is what you wanted. You want to get your life back so I am giving it back to you. I found you a decent place to practice medicine and I promise to find you a nice home”, he explained.

Déjà vu…she’s experiencing déjà vu. It all feels so familiar. Her brain took her to that time at the university. She was leaning towards forensic medicine and pathology after being invited to join FBI. When she told Daniel about it, he freaked out. He told her how she would only waste her time and talent on trying to save dead bodies when she can use her skills on saving living people. It was an ugly confrontation. A lot was said and in the end Scully did her residency in forensic medicine while assisting other surgeons in vast areas. It was tough time for her and she ultimately neglected her own health, all to keep Daniel happy about her career choice.

Scully has no idea why her brain would take her to that memory. It’s not like Daniel is angry at her right now for hesitating to jump on his train. It’s the feeling that’s so familiar to her. Like a cold splash of water hit on her face, her sight got clearer and her brain worked sharper.

“You’re not giving me my life back, Daniel. You’re giving me the life you wanted me to have”, she muttered.

“Is it that bad? What I want for you is only the best. You said you are tired of being unappreciated. I appreciate you, all of you. I wouldn’t suggest this job if I knew you couldn’t handle it. You will shine there”, he argued.

She shook her head.

“Are you listening to yourself right now, Daniel? I don’t want to shine. I want to be able to take control of my life and be myself. I want people to see what I am capable of without rubbing it to their faces. I don’t want to be put to a pedestal and be revered. I just…I just want people to stop navigating my life for me”, she said.

For a second, she’s afraid her words fell into a deaf ear. Daniel did not say a word. He looked disappointed, the same face he wore when she told him she wanted to pursue forensic medicine. It’s the same look he wore when she told him she accepted FBI’s offer and that she’s leaving medicine for good to join the bureau. She felt a shiver on her spine. The problem with being around people who got enormous power and authority in their veins is that just the look in their eyes is enough to make you feel so small and voiceless. Daniel got the same look in his eyes. Scully found it hard to speak. 

“It’s about your partner, isn’t it?” he asked.

“What?” she asked him back.

“I ran into your mother yesterday or more like, she stopped me on the street. She told me that I cannot make you happy. I will never make you happy like Agent Mulder did”, he answered.

Scully is having a hard time processing things. Did her mother really tell him that? That’s never her mother’s ammo unless she’s really desperate in getting her daughter away from him. The thing is, there is some truth in those words. Being with Daniel feels safe and stable but it lacks the same thrill and passion she feels being with Mulder.

“You looked up a job for me because you felt threatened by that. That’s why you searched for a hospital out of Washington and planning to find a house in Virginia”, she concluded.

Daniel smirked.

“I still wonder how come those people in the FBI underestimate you when you alone can crack a case with that brain of yours”, he remarked.

She smiled. Though still feeling his power over her, Scully is not the same person she was ten years ago. She has grown. 

“Daniel, you’re not in love with me”, she realized.

“I am in love with you, Dana. I love you with all of my being. I left everything for you”, he insisted.

“No, Daniel. You’re not. You are in love with Dr. Dana Scully but not with me…just Dana. You love the level of medical knowledge that I have, the guts to go up against other doctors in the field so I can have my way. I am not just the doctor, Daniel. That is my profession. That’s not who I am. I am a reckless person who knows how to put herself together to appear whole. I am a kind of person who has to put a complete reign of control over myself just so I can keep the beast locked inside. I am a kind of person who gets excited with danger. I am a kind of person who despite being a scientist and a rationalist, I entertained the notion of supernatural and green little men because I can. I am a lot of things, Daniel, more than what you saw and I don’t think you will love the other side of me. I am sorry that you left everything to follow me here. It’s why I left in the first place, so you can keep your family”, she explained.

A single tear escaped Daniel’s guard and fell down his cheek.

“This is the part where you’re leaving me again, isn’t it?” he asked.

“This is the part where you’re leaving me, Daniel”, she corrected. “You have to let me go so you can start over yourself and live your life”, she added.


	4. Diana

After talking to Maggie Scully on the phone, Mulder decided to background check Daniel. There is something about the way Maggie’s breath hitched when he mentioned his name on the phone. Surely, Scully will not entertain him if she knows he has a criminal record but Mulder wants to make sure that Daniel is not going to be another Ed Jerse. Maybe, he is also doing it out of curiosity and…jealousy? He pushed that last one out of his mind. Scully is his partner. He’s just looking out for her by doing a background check on Daniel because he suddenly developed a distrust for the guy.

Wait a minute…

He realized all of a sudden how ironic the situation is. Scully did the same thing when Diana showed up in their lives and she developed a distrust for her. Scully was just looking out for him and in her search, she said that she found hard evidence that Diana has been lying to him. The problem was, he did not listen. Now, it’s his turn to do the same, to look out for her and investigate Daniel Waterston because he does not trust him and clearly, Maggie does not either.

As it turns out, the guy is clean. He is a medical doctor, a distinguished professor and author. He is divorced from his wife and has been living in Washington for the last 10 years just like what Scully had said. He had left everything for her. The thought of Scully having an affair with her married professor did come to his mind but was pushed aside by the fact that someone has the balls to drop everything for her. She is worth it. He’s certain of that. Mulder knows he would die for Scully because she’s worth it so that begs the question…why can’t he trusts her about her words on Diana? What can’t he bring himself to look at the files she gathered for him?

He’s afraid. That is the answer that he had known all along but won’t admit. He’s afraid that Scully was right and that Diana has betrayed him. He is afraid that he has been wrong about Diana and that fact will hurt him because he trusts her.

It took him few days before he had the guts to finally open the folder on his desk where Scully’s research was. He recognized the marks on the paper that screams Gunmen. Scully had asked their help. He knows that when Scully does that, she’s in desperate need for answers and wanted it fast and accurate. The Lone Gunmen are the only people she trusts in providing her with that kind of result. A knot in his guts tightened. If she said that her suspicion was right and that the Gunmen were the ones who provided her the results, there is a high chance that what she was saying was true. Mulder took a deep breath and started reading.

“Fox? I got the report from the case yesterday”, Diana’s voice entered first before she even walks in the door of his apartment.

He looked at her with a plain expression on his face. She stopped on her tracks to assess him.

“Where were you after you left the X Files?” he asked.

“I already told you. I took an assignment in Europe as part of FBI’s foreign counter-terrorism unit”, she answered without even blinking.

Mulder tossed a file on her and she opened it.

“There’s no record at the FBI database of the said unit in Europe. You had frequent movements though based on your travel history. I didn’t know you like Tunisia so much”, he said.

Mulder is basically practicing his skills in psychology by observing her mannerisms, her eyes, the way she takes in his words. It took her 14 seconds before she was able to regulate her breathing and looked back at him.

“I was doing a research, Mulder. It’s what we do”, she muttered.

“I bet. How’s the data you collected from the MUFON group? That’s what you were doing there, wasn’t it?” he asked.

This time, it took her longer to come up with something in response. He caught her off-guard and it’s taking her a while to form something to tell him. Suddenly, it’s becoming easier to read her without the veil of faith he had her covered with. He is seeing her from another perspective, from the perspective of data…the same way Scully saw her.

“I believe this information came from Agent Scully”, she said.

“You have to excuse my partner. She’s a scientist and she likes hard evidence to back up her allegations. Her method is quite different than mine but always effective”, he replied.

“Fox, I was doing that to know more about the conspiracy. This is not new to us, to you and me. I don’t understand why make a big deal out of this”, she argued.

“Perhaps, because you lied to me about it first rather than just telling the truth. It makes me wonder, Diana. What else are you not telling me?” he asked again.

She swallowed. Her eyes drifted left and right and he noticed a prick of sweat on her forehead. He is making her nervous and Diana is not an easy person to get nervous. 

“I’m on your side, Fox. You know me”, she responded.

You don’t know her. You used to know her but not anymore…he kept hearing Scully’s voice in his head.

“Alien Hybrid Project”, she stiffened at that. “Tell me something about that”, he ordered.

The command in his voice is so loud, Diana took a step back. He has never been that way to her before and it shocked her. Trust no one, said Deep Throat. Mulder wants to punch himself on the face for not living up to that. Scully did. She tried to make him do the same but he resisted and now, he’s in this position, betrayed by someone he cares about.

“Fox…”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about because I got loads of pictures here with you and Alex Krycek talking and I am certain we never encountered him before when we’re starting at the X Files and he’s definitely a part of FBI’s foreign counter-terrorism unit”, Mulder cut her off before she got a chance to make an excuse for herself.

“You already know what it is, Fox”, she simply said.

She is not denying it, he thought. Shit! It is all true. He wanted to scream, throw something, or hit the wall. Not Diana…that was all he was praying in his brain as he reads Scully’s research but with every page he reads, it’s getting harder and harder to deny the facts.

“They are making human-alien hybrid, conspiring with the aliens…why?” he asked.

“Resist or die…” she shrugged. “They thought it’s better to follow than to perish right then and there”, she answered.

He read between her lines.

“They don’t intend to succeed on the project”, he guessed.

“They’re buying time, Fox. With every experiment, they make minute mistakes to make the project regress. They picked the unlikeliest subjects who got less chance of survival or immunity to the procedures to prolong it while they search for a vaccine, weapon, to fight against the colonizers. But it’s getting harder and harder. Science advances as well as technology and some of the subjects got strong immunity and were able to survive the experiments so the cover up begins”, she explained.

Hence, the X Files. The unexplained phenomenon started and people started to notice so FBI formed a unit to deal with it. They just did not expect that someone like him will get his hands on it, someone who digs in deeper than the superficial scenario of the case. Someone who can see the conspiracy underneath. 

“You’re a part of this?” he asked once more.

“We’re all a part of this, Fox, whether we like it or not. We all live in this planet and it’s being threatened. Our lives are being threatened. When I was presented with it, at first, I was hesitant. I don’t want to go behind your back but it’s bigger than you and me. It’s about the human race. If I can be of service, of any help, to stop the aliens from taking over the world, I would do it”, she answered with full honesty.

“I’m guessing it was the Smoking Man who made the presentation at your doorstep. He made it sound so appealing and noble that betraying what you used to believe in seemed so worth it”, he concluded.

She did not answer. He already knew. It makes him wonder whether it’s accident that he and Diana discovered the X Files together. What if she’s been on it all along? What if the choice has already been made for him from the beginning? She knows that he will do anything to find his sister so the mere suggestion of taking up the X Files and used it to form a way to search for the truth will do the trick. He fell for her trap headfirst. He has been fooled from the beginning.

“Your role is more vital than you know, Fox. The truth is being kept from you because you’re not ready yet. Your initial response is always to retaliate, to expose, to attack. You need to stay still and listen first so you can understand”, she said.

If everything is premeditated, then Scully’s abduction must have been planned from the start too. Hell, her assignment on the X Files might have been part of it as well. They could pick any other scientists in Quantico to partner with him but they chose her instead.

“Did you know what they did to Scully?” he asked. His voice’s tone changed, and it’s now laced with anger.

“She was part of the project but I didn’t know who she was at the time”, she answered.

“They experimented on her”, he muttered, almost a whisper. “She cannot remember any of it aside from a few glimpses of a white room and metal drill above her head but it haunts her every single time. She hates to admit it but I know she still gets nightmares at night from it. When she was returned, she was in a coma for weeks. No one thought she can make it and her mother already ordered a headstone. When she woke up, she discovered the implant in her neck and she developed cancer when she had it removed. She was dying once again so we put it back in her neck in order to save her life…”

He had to take a breath to compose himself.

“…pretty sure you all had a blast during her time at your table but you have no idea the toll it took on her, the consequences of your experiments. You think it’s noble what you do, buy time, keep the colonizers at bay in order to save the human race but what you really do is tormenting and killing the very people you’re trying to protect from them. The only difference is their threat is fast and easy. What you do is torture and cruel. It doesn’t make you a hero. It makes you worse than the aliens”, Mulder spat.

Every word hit Diana like a slap on the face. She never looked at it that way. Her main focus was to delay the colonization. She never bothered to see the cost it’s doing to others.

“I don’t expect you to understand all of this right now but I hope the time will come where you will see this is the only choice we have against them”, she said.

“There is always another choice, Diana”, he argued.

Diana looked grief-stricken.

“No, Fox. You and I…we don’t have a choice. We never had”, she said.

Mulder frowned. Something is not right. 

“What do you mean?” he asked but she did not respond. “What did you do, Diana?” he asked again.

The door opened and two men came in.

“I have not done anything yet, Fox. It was not my call. I told him I can make you understand. I can persuade you but I was wrong. I underestimated Agent Scully’s hold on you so this has to happen this way. I am very sorry, Fox”, she answered.

The two men dressed in black approached Mulder. His eyes caught the syringe the other was holding.

“What do you want with me?” he asked.

Most abductees are women so they can use their ova to produce alien hybrid but what do they want with him? He has been a pain in their asses from the start. Are they finally here to kill him?

“I told you that your role in this is more vital than you know and it is true. You hold the key to our survival, Fox. You are immune to them. You have immunity to the Black Oil and that will save all of us. You will be our hero”, she answered.

He digested every word of that. He is immune. It’s true that he has been infected before with Black Oil and he was given an incomplete version of the vaccine but if it’s true, if he is truly immune and they want to take that…it only means that they’re not there to kill him. They are there to experiment on him.


	5. Saving Mulder

Breaking up with Daniel the second time surprisingly easy compared the last time. Back then, she had doubts if what she’s doing was the right thing. She felt the pain and it was overwhelming. She questioned herself whether it would be worth leaving him, her career as a doctor so she could prevent breaking a family. This time, she is so sure about her decision. There is a pain of what she could possibly be leaving behind for the second time. She knows Daniel is willing to give her anything she wants. He is willing to give her a home, a family, the settled life she has been dreaming before but those things are not enough for her anymore. At one point, she would want those but right now, she wants to be of service to others. She wants to help people, save and protect them. She does not want safe.

She called her mother and told her what happened. Of course, Maggie is more than relieved. It’s what she was trying to point out to her daughter when they talked. She knows how her daughter has been waiting for Fox to get that stick out of his ass and see that she’s just right there and she does not want her daughter to give up just yet. She knows true love when she sees one and what she sees between her daughter and Fox is one of a kind. It would a crime for her daughter to pass that up for Daniel.

Scully gathered herself and hit the shower. She is going to go to work and tell Skinner that she’s withdrawing her request to resign. She should call Mulder as well but it’s best that they talk in person. She has not forgotten his lack of trust on her but she can understand his position. She went through the same with Daniel when her mother gave her the lecture. Instead of listening to her mother, Scully sided with Daniel, holding on to how she knew him, what he meant to her, the stability he offered. Mulder was the same. Diana is his Daniel. He sided with his blind faith on the woman he used to know, who used to believe in him, support him, who shared the same belief he has. Being back with Daniel the past few weeks gave her a better understanding on why Mulder had a hard time accepting her evidence against Diana.

She put on her work clothes and went to the building. People seemed to have missed her because as soon as she walks in, everyone is staring at her. She had been gone for more than a month. Perhaps they all noticed. Skinner’s eyes went wide when he saw her walks in his office.

“Sir, can I talk to you? Sorry to just come in here without making an appointment”, she asked.

“Actually, I had been meaning to talk to you, Agent Scully”, he said.

“I changed my mind about resigning. I am here to withdraw my request for resignation”, she went on ahead before he can say anything else.

Skinner looked relieved about that and was able to breathe. He thought that she’s there to convince him to grant her resignation.

“That’s great news, Agent Scully”, he muttered.

Scully smiled and was ready to leave but something in his face screams problem.

“Something happened, sir?” she asked.

Perceptive, he thought.

“Yes. Agent Mulder is missing. He has not shown up to work in three days and we cannot contact Agent Fowley either. I went personally to Agent Mulder’s apartment and he was not there. I could not reach his phone”, he answered.

She should be shocked. Somehow, she’s not. Her adrenaline rushed through her veins fast.

“Give me 24 hours”, she said and Skinner nodded, trusting in her ability to bring her partner back.

\----------------------------------

The FBI and Skinner failed to find Mulder because they’re looking in the wrong direction. They are focused on finding Mulder that they missed on Diana. She’s unreachable too but it’s not uncommon for her. She has that record of disappearing for a period of days but no one dares to question that. Why? It does not matter. Scully knows where to look. Diana. Find her, they find Mulder.

She put the Gunmen to work. It will be impossible to trace Mulder with his phone but Diana always carries hers. She saw it herself. It’s like she and her phone are inseparable, like she’s always waiting for a call or something. 

“This is completely illegal”, Frohike muttered while the three of them are working the computer.

“Since when did that stop you before?” she snapped.

That earned her a smirk from the three guys. They had always liked her and they like her more than Diana. To them, she’s Mulder’s equal and every way. She keeps him on his toes, keeps him honest when his brain is going overboard. She keeps him alive and for that they owe her a lot. She earned their respect and their friendship.

“You’re right. It’s like she and her phone are twins. Her phone is on the move right now”, Langly said.

Scully looked closely at the monitor.

“Where is that?” she asked.

“…at the DOD”, Byers answered.

Of course, she thought.

“Thank you, guys”, she said and grabbed her bag but Frohike locked the door. “What are you doing?” she asked him.

“Do you have any plans when you get there?” he asked her back.

“The plan is to get Mulder out of there so I can kick him in the ass after”, she answered.

“We get that but you’re about to storm inside the Department of Defense by yourself. You might be able to get in but I don’t think you can make it out let alone with Mulder”, Frohike argued.

It’s true that she does not have any plan in mind. All she wants is to get Mulder out of there and keep him away to Diana.

“Alright, what do you have in mind?” she asked.

\------------------------------------

Hacking into the system of the Department of Defense is no joke. Scully has to bribe and physically attacked a couple of guards in order to get the Gunmen access to the building. She’s been breaking rules all night long but she does not care once she saw the footage inside the restricted area of the building. It was a horrible sight. Mulder is lying on a cold metal table. His hands are tied up, stretched to each sides. His legs are also pinned onto the table and there’s a metal ring around his head preventing any kind of movements. He is unconscious and the IV fluid next to him is an indicator of a drug being administered to him without his consent.

“Sir, it’s me”, she said to Skinner on the other line. “Is it safe to talk?” she asked.

“Yes. Did you find Agent Mulder?” he answered then asked her back.

“Yes, sir. He’s being kept inside the Department of Defense building at the restricted area. I will try to get to him and sneak him out. We will need a getaway car”, she answered.

Department of Defense? Skinner’s heart is literally pounding. They got no jurisdiction in that building and his agent is breaking in.

“Agent Scully, why don’t you wait for me?” he asked.

“There’s no time, sir! Agent Mulder is lying on table with restraints. I think they’re going to operate on him. We will try to exit at the back entrance of the building. I hope the getaway car will be there by then”, she answered and then hung up.

She is tensed. There is a very high chance she will get caught and when she does, there is no telling what will happen. 

“Are you ready?” Byers asked.

“Yes. You three will be my eyes from here. If you can, get doors open for me. If things go wrong, you get the hell away from this building. Is that clear?” she answered then asked.

There is a hesitation from the three guys. They wanted to be there for them and help her get Mulder back. Running is not an option but they can see that Scully will kill them if they don’t agree with her terms.

“Crystal”, Langly answered for the three of them.

“Alright…see you soon”, she said and left.

The Gunmen served as her eyes. They tell her which way to go by watching over her at the security cameras which they already blocked from the security room of the building. They opened doors for her until she’s standing in front of the operating room where Mulder is being kept.

“This is it, Scully. Mulder is in there”, Frohike said to her through an earpiece.

She sighed and readied her gun.

“Wish me luck, boys”, she said.

When the light turned green, she kicked the door down and aimed her gun to whoever is near Mulder.

“FBI! Drop it!” she announced.

Everyone froze at the sight of her. The room is filled with doctors and nurses all dressed in white. It is quite clear that the operation has commenced, and the Smoking Man is not beside Mulder, both of their skulls are wide open.

“You’re not supposed to be in here”, one doctor said.

“You bet? Put everything down now”, she ordered.

One by one they put whatever they’re holding down. Scully took a look at what’s on the table, assessing medically what’s taking place. The black substance from Mulder’s brain did not go unnoticed. 

“Your taking something from him to put it in Smoking Man’s body”, she guessed which is quite accurate.

“Good call, Agent Scully”, Diana suddenly said.

Her gun quickly aimed at her. She, too, is dressed in white. She is actually participating in the surgery. Scully wanted to pull the trigger right then and there. She cannot believe that she can betray Mulder this way.

“What does the Smoking Man want from Mulder?” Scully asked.

“Hope, the immunity to fight the colonizers…” Diana answered.

Scully stared at the black substance in Mulder’s brain and it is something she has seen before. 

“Black oil…you want to transfer Mulder’s resistance to it to the Smoking Man”, she concluded before turning to her. “You might kill him by removing a piece of his brain. Do you really want him to go through with this?” she asked Diana.

“It has already started. This is for the future, to save us all”, Diana answered.

She looked around her. She is being surrounded but luckily they are all unarmed. In a few minutes, guards will come in to get her out.

“Get out of the room”, she muttered but no one bulged. “I said get the hell out of here or I will start shooting bullets!” she yelled and the doctors quickly ran for their lives until Diana was the only left with her.

“You cannot leave them here on the table like this. You’re killing them both as well as the entire human race”, Diana said.

“Thanks for your input but I will ask for it when I want to hear it. Now, get out before I lose the last strand of the patience I have left in my body for you”, she snapped.

Reluctantly, Diana left the room.

“Lock the door”, Scully said at the Gunmen which they quickly obliged.

“What are you going to do?” Langly asked.

“Finish what they started and hopefully get it done with Mulder still breathing. Keep the guards away from here as much as you can. I have a surgery to finish”, she answered and then got ready.

It took her more than half an hour but it’s the fastest she can go by herself. She did so carefully even though she does not have to bother with Smoking Man. The doctor in her urged her to finish the job and when she’s done. She put Mulder on a gurney and took him out of the building to the back entrance where Skinner is waiting with the getaway car.


	6. Promise

Hospital may not be the safest place for Mulder at the moment but he needs immediate medical attention so Scully and Skinner brought him there. She is certain she did the best she could given the situation and time frame but he needs to be checked whether he developed any infection from the surgery. She has no choice. They had begun the operation and stopping it will put Mulder’s life in danger so she needed to get it over with. Scully knows there will be plenty of people that will look after the Smoking Man whom she left on the table after she stitched him up. Mulder is her priority, no one else.

“What were they doing with Mulder?” Skinner asked her while they were waiting outside the hallway.

“They think Mulder has immunity to black oil because of his previous exposure to it and his unexpected survival. When I got there, they just started operating. I saw the dormant black oil in his penial gland and that’s what they were trying to transfer to the Smoking Man so he can be immune too”, she answered.

“…and did you do it? Did you transfer to the Smoking Man a piece of Mulder’s brain?” Skinner asked again.

“I have no choice, sir. It’s already happening so I completed the surgery. I gave the Smoking Man what he wanted and I freed Mulder from any trace of black oil in his system. He is free from it finally. They won’t have any reason to take him again”, she answered.

Big heart and smart brain, Skinner mused. Scully could just leave the old man to die on that table and saved Mulder alone but she used the opportunity to get the Smoking Man off of Mulder’s back by giving him what he wanted. There is no guarantee that Mulder’s resistance to the black oil will be transferred to him but Scully granted his wish and in return, freed Mulder from that deadly substance lingering inside his brain for years. What will Mulder do without her?

“I can’t believe Agent Fowley is a part of this”, he muttered.

Scully maintained a straight face.

“I am not”, she said coldly.

She has her suspicion from the moment she met Diana. She cannot understand it at first but she never trusted her or anything that came out of her mouth. She is no Gibson Praise who can read other people’s thoughts but she has the ‘feeling’. She felt the need to distrust Diana Fowley and her feeling was right all along. She had wished though that Mulder listened to her then.

“Where do you think she is now?” Skinner asked.

In hell, Scully thought but she did not say that out loud. It would be too much and in proper to say in front of her boss.

“I don’t know, sir, but I do hope she stay the hell away from Mulder”, she answered.

Skinner scoffed.

“She better stay away because I will lock her up indefinitely”, Skinner expressed which earned him a smirk from Scully.

Scully had asked the Gunmen to lay low. They had hacked into the Department of Defense network so they have high risk of getting captured if they come to the hospital. She did promise that she will keep them posted of Mulder’s condition. They waited for an hour before the doctor came to see them. He had informed them that Mulder is in good condition thanks to Scully’s operation. It was done meticulously, and he did not contract any infection. Even her stitching was commended by the doctor. The only advise is to keep Mulder on bedrest and to give him some time off in order for his stitch to heal.

“I should head back to the office. I see if there’s anything else I can do for Mulder”, Skinner said.

Scully had read between the lines. He wants to find who are responsible for what happened to Mulder and he wants to hunt them down. She cannot blame him. She wants to do the same but she has to make sure that Mulder will be safe first.

“That’s fine, sir. I will watch Mulder. I’ll be fine”, she agreed and Skinner left.

\-------------------------------

Mulder opened his eyes and found himself lying on a hospital bed surrounded by everything white. He has no recollection on how he ended up there. The last thing he can remember was being in his apartment with Diana and…two strange men. She had betrayed him. His brain still cannot process that revelation that the person he thought he knew is capable of that kind of action.

He turned his head to the side and saw Scully asleep on a chair next to his bed. She is wearing her work clothes but she looked so tired. What really happened? She wanted to resign from the bureau. How did she know he’s at the hospital? Did she find him? Was she the one who brought him there? Like sensing that he’s awake, Scully opened her eyes and saw him looking at her.

“Oh, you’re up. How are you feeling? Do you need water?” she asked while trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

“I’ve been better. What happened? How did I get here? Why are you here?” he answered then asked her back.

“What was the last thing you remember, Mulder?” she asked instead.

“Diana…I was at my apartment and I was reading your research on her when she came in. I asked her about what you found and she admitted all of it. She told me she’s working with Smoking Man and then two men came in and I blacked out after that”, he answered.

Scully felt her temper rising. He finally listened to her and read the file. He had believed and that’s when Diana got him kidnapped.

“Skinner told me that you went missing. I came to the office to withdraw my resignation and I asked to be put in charge in finding you. The Gunmen could not track you so they tracked Agent Fowley’s phone instead. She took you to the Department of Defense’s basement where I found you. They were doing a surgery in your head to transfer your immunity from the black oil to Smoking Man. When I got there, they had already started so I finished it to save you”, Scully explained.

Mulder felt his head for a bit and he knows there’s something that stings. There is bandage wrapped around his head to keep it protected.

“You took something from my head and gave it to Smoking Man?” he asked.

“Yes”, she answered and waited if he will lash out but he did not. “They had already opened up your head and the Smoking Man’s. I took the dormant black oil in your brain and put it in Smoking Man. I gave him what he wanted so he would leave you alone because knowing that you had the immunity to it, he will not stop until he gets it. It’s not a hundred percent guarantee that the immunity has been transferred to him. All I did was put the black oil in his brain along with a piece of your penial gland. Whether it will work or not, it’s beyond me. The good news is you’re finally free from any dormant black oil that has the potential to be triggered by outside forces”, she elaborated.

Scully waited for any violent reaction from him but she got none. He sighed and smiled at her.

“You know I had a really weird dream while I was out”, he said instead which made her frown. “I was dreaming about the life I turned my back to for the X Files. It was perfect, stable, peaceful, normal, but you weren’t there. At the end of it, I got old and I was dying. You suddenly came into my room looking the same as always and you called me a coward for choosing something safe and normal. It’s like the whole world was turned upside down and you remained the same. Everything was falling apart and you kept me from going over the edge. You’re my touchstone, Scully”, he confessed.

She was struck by his confession that it took her a few seconds to respond. 

“…and you were mine”, she said almost whispering before she met his eyes. “I was so lost that I almost settled on safe and something normal but my heart was not in it. I kept hearing your voice in my head, pushing my belief, my rationalism to its limits. I broke up with Daniel again and I decided to stay with the bureau, with the X Files…with you”, she added.

Mulder is more than relieved. He is beyond happy to hear that more than the fact that he’s still alive. He couldn’t imagine working at the basement office without her. He couldn’t imagine anything without her.

“I don’t know if saying that I am glad sounds insensitive, but I am glad”, he muttered and it made her laughed.

“It’s kind of insensitive but I will let it slide for now. Once you’re out of here, I am going to kick your ass for doubting me”, she teased.

Mulder went serious.

“I will never make that same mistake again, Scully. I promise. I will never doubt you again”, he promised.

“That’s good to know. Get some rest, Mulder. Skinner got loads of cases for us when we get back to work”, she said with a tap on his arm.

She was about to leave when he caught her hand.

“Will you stay for a while?” he asked.

She smiled and sat back down.

“Sure…but you gotta tell me all about that dream you had, every little details”, she agreed and listened to his story.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this little story of mine. I had fun playing with it. Until the next one!!!


End file.
